THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
at Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships
Nicholson Pavilion ­- Ellensburg, Wash. (all times listed as AST)
Thursday, Mar. 7 – Quarterfinals
11 am: #6 Seattle Pacific (11-17, 8-10) vs #3 Alaska Anchorage (18-8, 13-5)
1:15 pm: #5 Simon Fraser (17-13, 10-8) vs #5 Central Washington (18-11, 10-8)
Friday, Mar. 8 – Semifinals
11 am: SPU/UAA winner vs #2 Western Washington (21-6, 14-4)
1:15 pm: SFU/CWU winner vs #1 Montana State Billings (25-5, 16-2)
Saturday, Mar. 9 – Title Game (winner earns automatic NCAA berth)
4 pm: Semifinal winners
 
LIVE VIDEO: Free at youtube.com/GNACsports
LIVE STATS: wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball
TICKETS: gnacsports.com/gnac/tickets
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Senya Rabouin, 5-5, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 2.2 spg, .369 3FG, .761 FT)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg, .411 FG)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, So. (7.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, .347 3FG, .769 FT)
F—Vishe' Rabb, 5-9, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.7 spg, .800 FT)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, Jr. (5.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.0 spg, .862 FT)
 
CHASING A CHAMPIONSHIP: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team takes the No. 3 seed into the six-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, presented by Under Armour, this week in Ellensburg, Wash. ... UAA will face No. 6 seed Seattle Pacific in the quarterfinals, with the winner to square off Friday against No. 2 seed Western Washington ... the winner of the tournament earns the GNAC's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional Championships ... entering the week on the NCAA Tournament bubble, this week's results will be critical for the Seawolves.
 
GNAC TOURNEY HISTORY: The Seawolves have never missed a GNAC Tournament, capturing six of the first 10 titles (2011, '12, '15, '16, '17, 20) ... last year UAA came up short in the quarterfinals, losing 69-65 to Seattle Pacific in Bellingham, Wash. ... UAA has a 15-6 record in GNAC tourney games, going 2-3 in the quarterfinals, 7-2 in the semifinals and 6-1 in the finals ... UAA's last title came in 2020 when it beat Western Washington 89-68 in Seattle.
 
GNAC Women's Basketball Championships Results
Year Champ RnrUp Score Site MVP
2023 WWU   MSUB  76-71 WWU  B.Walling, WWU
2022 CWU   WWU   57-46 SMU  S.Bowman,CWU
2021 No Tournament (Covid-19)
2020 UAA   WWU   89-68 SPU  S.Yasin,UAA
2019 NNU   UAA   70-64 WWU  E.Logan,NNU
2018 MSUB  SPU   71-61 UAA  A.Breen,MSUB
2017 UAA   WWU   79-70 SMU  A.Williams,UAA
2016 UAA   MSUB  77-57 SMU  Robertson,UAA
2015 UAA   WWU   71-58 MSUB Robertson,UAA
2014 WWU   SFU   78-74 SMU  J.White,WWU
2013 WWU   SFU   60-40 SMU  T.Williams,WWU
2012 UAA   WWU   67-52 SMU  H.Holmstead,UAA
2011 UAA   WWU   68-67 WWU  K.McBride,UAA
 
KNOW THE FOES: Seattle Pacific snapped a four-game losing skid to secure the final GNAC Tournament berth with Saturday's 72-64 win at Alaska Fairbanks ... the Falcons – who used just six players in their loss to UAA last week – are led by Jr. F Olivia Mayer (15.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.5 spg, .451 FG) and Jr. C Schuyler Berry (9.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, .731 FT) ... with an NCAA Tournament berth all but secure, Western Washington enters the GNAC tourney seeking to improve its position for the West Regionals ... the Vikings are led by All-GNAC Sr. F Brooke Walling (16.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.9 bpg, .584 FG) and So. G Mason Oberg (11.7 ppg, 2.3 apg, .448 3FG, .831 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: UAA leads 39-38 overall; tied 1-1 on neutral courts
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 51-39 (2/29/24 at UAA)
Notes: This will mark the teams' sixth GNAC Tourney meeting (UAA leads 3-2) and third straight quarterfinal matchup; SPU won 69-65 last season in Bellingham ... teams met in the GNAC semis in 2011, 2017 and 2018 ... UAA leads 6-2 in postseason play, including NCAA Tournament wins in 2008, 2009 and 2010 ... UAA leads 22-20 in GNAC regular-season meetings, despite SPU winning the first 11 encounters …UAA leads 20-4 under head coach Ryan McCarthy ... SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent, squaring off at least once per season (excluding 2020-21) since 1990-91 … series started in 1979-80.
 
vs WWU: UAA leads 30-29 overall, 5-2 on neutral courts
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 77-69 (2/3/24 at WWU)
Notes: UAA's Jan. 4 win snapped a five-game WWU streak and was its first post-pandemic victory over the Vikings ... last neutral-court meeting was a 76-64 WWU victory in the 2022 NCAA First Round in Hayward, Calif. ... teams have played 32 times since Jan. 2011, including five times in the GNAC Tourney finals (all UAA wins), and NCAA 1st Round games in 2012 and 2022 ... UAA leads 23-21 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 16-10 under Ryan McCarthy ... WWU won the first seven meetings in series history, which began Feb.13, 1997.
 
FABULOUS FINISH: After premiering at No. 9 in the West Region rankings on Feb. 28, UAA finished its regular season with two critical victories, beating Seattle Pacific 51-39 and nationally No. 9-ranked MSU Billings 84-72 in OT at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first game, Jr. C Tori Hollingshead had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks as UAA held the Falcons to 22 points over the first three quarters and their second-lowest point total in 76 all-time series meetings ... Jr. G Jazzpher Evans added 9 points and 5 rebounds, Jr. G Senya Rabouin dished 6 assists, and Jr. F Jaisa Gamble matched her career rebounding high with 8 boards to help UAA avenge its Dec. 2 loss at SPU ... on Saturday, Hollingshead scored a career-high 22 points (8-13 FG, 6-6 FT) and Rabouin provided late heroics with 12 points (4-7 FG, 2-3 3FG) as UAA ended MSUB's eight-game win streak and improved to 3-1 against nationally ranked teams this year ... Jr. G Mia Ross scored a career-high 12 points (6-8) and the Seawolves got big all-around efforts from Jr. G Ja'Niah Alexander (10 pts, 6-6 FT, 6 rebs, 5 assts) and Jr. G Kya Pearson (8 pts, 2-2 3FG, 5 stls) to aid a program-record 16-of-16 accuracy at the foul stripe.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves have continued their program's string of qualifying for every GNAC Tournament since its inception in 2011 ... UAA leads the GNAC in steals per game (13.4, 9th nationally), turnovers forced (22.2, 15th nationally), turnover margin (+5.5, 15th nationally), offensive rebounds per game (15.0, 22nd nationally) and offensive rebounding percentage (.384), and ranks top-3 in scoring margin (+10.5), FG% defense (.390), rebounds per game (39.2) and rebound margin (+4.0) ... the 16-of-16 free-throw shooting against MSUB broke the program single-game record of 12-of-12 against Regis on Nov. 16, 2012 – Ryan McCarthy's second game as head coach ... the 33 points allowed against Clarion equaled UAA's 10th-fewest against a fellow NCAA Div. II opponent ... the eight first-half points allowed against Saint Martin's set a program record for fewest against a conference opponent in either half ... UAA's four-game losing skid from Nov. 24-Dec. 2 was its longest since dropping seven straight from Jan. 7-28, 2006 ... the Seawolves' four one-possession losses mark the first time that has happened since the 2007-08 squad suffered four of its five losses that year by three points or fewer.
 
'HEAD OF THE CLASS: The Seawolves' leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead picked up Second Team All-GNAC honors in her debut season in Green & Gold ... the Umpqua (Ore.) CC transfer ranks among the GNAC leaders in scoring (11th, 13.0 ppg), rebounding (9th, 6.7 rpg), blocks (3rd, 1.9 [23rd nationally]), steals (6th, 1.7 spg) and FG% (5th, .536 [30th nationally]) ... the Orem, Utah, native leads UAA with three double-doubles, including an 18-point/12-rebound effort in the road win over CWU, and has scored double figures in 20 of 26 games ... Hollingshead's 1.9 blocks per game are on pace for No. 6 on UAA's single-season list and easily the most in the Ryan McCarthy era (since 2012-13) ... she earned all-tournament spots at both the GNAC/PacWest Crossover and the ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout.
 
RABOUIN IT RIGHT: Jr. PG Senya Rabouin (pronounced 'rah-BOO-in') has settled nicely into her role since transferring from Central Arizona College, capturing Second Team All-GNAC recognition ... the Phoenix native already has six 20-plus scoring efforts to her credit, moving up in the GNAC stats to 12th in scoring (12.1 ppg), 1st in assists (4.1 apg), 4th in steals (2.2 spg), 11th in FT% (.761), 12th in 3FG% (.369), 10th in 3FGs per game (1.6) and 5th in A/T ratio (2.1) ... Rabouin earned her first GNAC Player of the Week award for her effort against WWU and SFU in January, and exploded for a UAA season-high 28 points in the road win over WWU ... Rabouin's 10 assists Dec. 8 against Clarion were the first double-digit performance by a Seawolf since Nov. 2017, while she has recorded at least four steals on six occasions.
 
RABB's RETURN: After 10 months of rehab following her second torn ACL, Sr. F Vishe' Rabb has returned to earn honorable mention All-GNAC recognition in her final season ... the 2022-23 GNAC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-GNAC performer has averaged 9.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.1 apg and 1.7 spg since returning to the lineup on Jan. 4, scoring double figures in eight of 14 games and helping UAA to a 12-3 record ... Rabb made her season debut with a team-high 16 points (7-10 FG), 3 assists and 3 steals in UAA's victory over No. 14 WWU on Jan. 4, and forged a 14-point/10-rebound double-double to aid the win at Central Washington ... now 15 games into her final season, the Augustana (S.D.) transfer stands at 1,435 points at the NCAA Div. II level.
 
'WOLF BITES: A steady part of UAA's lineup in her fourth collegiate season, Jr. G Jazzpher Evans is averaging a career-best 9.5 points per game, while ranking 18th in the GNAC with 2.5 assists per game ... the Chicago native tied her career high from her Covid freshman season at Quincy with 20 points (8-14 FG, 4-4 FT) in the opener at Pacific, and topped that with 21 points against Adams State ... Evans was named the MVP of the GNAC/PacWest Crossover after helping UAA to two wins in Honolulu with 13.5 ppg on .500 FG ...  other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders are Jr. G Kya Pearson (9th, 1.5 spg), Jr. F Jaisa Gamble (5th, 1.9 spg; 14th, 1.7 orpg) and So. G Elaina Mack (6th, 2.0 3FG per game; 16th, .335 3FG%) ... Mack nailed at least one 3FG in the first 17 games (t-7th-longest streak in program history), including a 5-of-6 (17 pts) effort in the win at HPU, and matched her season-high 17 points (5-9 3FG) in the win at Saint Martin's ... UAA ranks 13th in NCAA Div. II with 30.0 bench points per game.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 155-28 – including 72-15 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 223-25 (.899) in the last 16-plus seasons on their home courts, including 114-15 (.884) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... UAA had been 32-0 all-time against NCAA Div. II non-conference opponents at the Alaska Airlines Center in the regular season prior to the losses to Adams State ... UAA's run of six straight GNAC regular-season titles is the longest of any basketball program – women's or men's – since the league was founded in 2001-02 ... the 2019-20 Seawolves earned the program's fourth 30-win season in five years, starting with an NCAA Div. II-record 38 victories in 2015-16 ... the Seawolves have produced 17 20-win seasons in 46 years of program history prior to this season ... the Seawolves have won 71 of their last 76 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has clinched its 17th consecutive winning record and is seeking a 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in its last 17 full seasons ... the Seawolves have never failed to qualify for the GNAC Tournament, winning six of the 12 titles since the event started in 2011.
 
MASTER OF MAYHEM: In his 12th season at UAA and 13th overall as head coach in 2022-23, Ryan McCarthy still stood among the top five active NCAA Div. II coaches in career winning percentage (.806) at the outset of the campaign ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history since coming north in 2012, McCarthy has led the Seawolf program to unprecedented heights, capturing six straight GNAC regular-season titles (five outright) between 2015-20, four GNAC Tournament titles, eight straight NCAA Tournament berths (discounting the 2020-21 non-season), and ascending as high as No. 1 or No. 2 in the national rankings every season from 2014-15 through 2017-18 ... in 2019-20, McCarthy earned his fourth consecutive GNAC Coach of the Year honor and fifth in six seasons, and he was the WBCA NCAA Div. II West Region Coach of the Year three straight times from 2015-17 ... in 2016-17, the Anchorage native led UAA to its third straight top-2 regional seed and its second straight 30-win season (30-2), while recording the first 20-0 league record in GNAC history ... the previous season, McCarthy's crew set an NCAA Div. II record with 38 victories, advancing all the way to the 2016 National Title Game in Indianapolis ... his 2014-15 club claimed what was then the best winning percentage in program history with a 29-2 (.935) mark, sweeping both GNAC titles as well ... McCarthy led UAA to an improvement in overall wins (17, 19, 29, 38) his first four seasons and increased the Seawolves' GNAC victory total in each of his first five campaigns (11, 12, 17, 18, 20) … playing its up-tempo 'Mayhem' style, McCarthy's crews led the nation in steals per game for four straight seasons (2013-14 to 2016-17), while staying among the top 10 in steals each year through 2021-22 ... McCarthy sports head-coaching records of 280-61 (.821) at UAA and 294-74 (.799) overall, having served in an interim capacity at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11 … McCarthy is assisted in 2023-24 by 12th-year associate head coach Shaina Afoa (the 2017-18 WBCA NCAA Div. II National Assistant Coach of the Year) and former UAA men's assistant Jalon McCullough (1st season).
 
2023-24 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
JAZZPHER EVANS
GNAC/PacWest Crossover MVP
Preseason All-GNAC Team
TORI HOLLINGSHEAD
Second Team All-GNAC
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 15-21
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
GNAC/PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team
ELAINA MACK
GNAC All-Academic Team
VISHE' RABB
GNAC All-Academic Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
SENYA RABOUIN
Second Team All-GNAC
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 1-7
KATE ROBERTSON
GNAC All-Academic Team